GENOA, TEXAS. Genoa, on Interstate Highway 45 ten miles south of Houston in southern Harris County, was established in 1892 and named by its founder, J. H. Burnett, for what he claimed to be its similarity in climate to Genoa, Italy. The Genoa post office opened in 1892. Burnett built at Genoa five houses, a hotel, a store, and a railroad depot for the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad. The community grew slowly. By 1905 it had a one-teacher school with thirty students. In 1914 Genoa reported a population of 200, and its businesses included a general store, dairy, nursery, blacksmith shop, and carpenter. Its estimated population fell to 100 by 1925, and remained at roughly that level until 1941, when its population was reported as 400, with fifteen businesses. Genoa's population was reported as about 400 until the mid-1960s, when the community was annexed by the city of Houston.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Kathleen E. and Clifton R. St. Clair, eds., Little Towns of Texas (Jacksonville, Texas: Jayroe Graphic Arts, 1982).

Timothy Nolan Smith